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Because Circumcision Generates $1B/Year

Mon, 09/17/2012 - 08:42
Submitted by Carlin Ross
Circumstraint Board

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has argued that circumcision doesn't appear to adversely affect penile sexual function although they admit that the true complication rate of circumcision is unknown. Joel Smart follows the money:

"Brian Earp, who writes Practical Ethics for the University of Oxford, suggests that at least part of the answer comes by following the money. “The AAP is not a dispassionate scientific research body, but rather a trade association for pediatricians,” he explains, “Those among its members and stakeholders who perform [circumcisions] stand to profit from the procedure, to the collective annual tune of $1.25 billion.”

While the point isn’t that the statement is entirely driven by profit, it’s undeniable that money is a motivating factor; the AAP explicitly requested circumcision funding from medical insurance companies. Currently circumcision is classified as “cosmetic surgery” due to the fact that it is unnecessary and removes normal, healthy tissue."

$1B is alot of money to leave on the table. Betty always talks about how her mother wouldn't let anyone "touch my boys" and refused to have them circumcised. I'm with Bessie.

We Suggest: 
Russell Crowe: Circumcision is Barbaric
Conversations About Circumcision are Really Important
"A Remedy for Masturbation Almost Always Successful in Small Boys: Circumcision"
Circumcision is a “Severe & Irreversible Interference into Physical Integrity.”
Sex, Politics & More Sex

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While the AAP has argued that circumcision doesn't appear

Betty Dodson's picture
Mon, 09/17/2012 - 09:53
Betty Dodson

to adverselly affect the penis, they left out how it adversely affects women during intercourse. How come no one makes the connection this was originally done to keep boys from masturbating?  (besides being a Jewish ritual).

A circumcised penis requires more friction to ejaculate and unless a man learns to masturbate with gentle strokes, that friction doesn't always feel good inside a vagina. Am I really surprised they left out women in the equation? Not really.

Circumcision

Mon, 09/17/2012 - 09:55
Patrick_R

I think you've hit the nail on the head regarding the reasons for the AAP's endorsement of circumcision. Although it's done for different reasons, circumcision is akin in some ways to labiaplasty: a completely unnecessary removal of healthy, highly sensitive tissue by a for-profit industry. Except in rare and hard-to-imagine cases of medical necessity, ethical practitioners shouldn't be performing these procedures at all---and certainly not as a matter of course.

You're so ABSOLUTELY right, Betty.

Joelface's picture
Mon, 09/17/2012 - 13:36
Joelface

It's an important point that the foreskin is designed to play a role in making sex better for women. It's rolling action reduces abrasive friction during sexual activity, plus, as you say, the constant exposure of the glans penis means that a man is much more likely to need harder friction to ejaculate.

Plus, think of the other taboo we won't talk about here. Age. Not only does age decrease sensitivity in the exposed glans of the man, but with the onset of menopause, a woman needs SOFTER more gentle intercourse due to the changes in her body. The foreskin is there for her. It prevents tearing of the vaginal walls.

But, do you expect the AAP to recognize something like this as a function of the foreskin? No such luck. That's why we need people like you, Betty, to make sure we don't let those important points remain unspoken. 

YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! SPOT ON!!!!!!!!

Mon, 09/17/2012 - 17:40
Jake E

I was offered circumcision many times as a cure for phimosis (a tight foreskin) The operation I had, preputiplasty, is simple and cheaper as it doesn't cut through any major blood vessels. But there you are it's cheaper and this culture of circumcision is endemic to England as I had my op on the national health service for free and a cheaper proceedure benifits the NHS here.

BTW that's how I found out about the tennis ball massage from an NHS physiotherapist. Don't pay someone £40 to massage your back, place a tennis ball between your back and a wall and make like your scratching your back on a post, the tennis ball massages your muscle knots every day if you like for a total outlay of 59p.

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